To Leave or Not to Leave: The Distribution of Bequest Motives
Wojciech Kopczuk and Joseph P. Lupton 2004-33

Abstract:&nbspIn this paper, we examine the effect of observed and unobserved
heterogeneity in the desire to die with positive net worth. Using a
structural life-cycle model nested in a switching regression with unknown
sample separation, we find that roughly 70 percent of the elderly single
population has a bequest motive that may or may not be active depending
on the level of resources at a given age. Both the presence and the
magnitude of the bequest motive are statistically and economically
significant. All else being equal, households with an operative bequest
motive spend between $4,000 and $9,000 a year less on consumption
expenditures on average. We conclude that, among the elderly single
households in our sample, approximately half of bequeathed wealth will be
due to a bequest motive.